Split Screen is a love story about two beautiful cities – Paris & New York. Shot entirely on a Nokia N8, the video is essentially a side by side comparison of the two cities, their inhabitance and the energy they both possess. Winner of the Nokia Short Competition 2011.

While the NokiSoft (Nokia+Microsoft) partnership has enabled Microsoft to build better hardware and Nokia has gained an OS that can at least play with the big boys – it looks like Nokia hasn’t learned from past Microsoft marketing failures. The current marketing campaign against front runner Apple is Smart Phone Beta Test – a series of behind the scene clips that are ment to show the weaknesses of the iPhone.

Fragile: “If you drop the phone, it might break.” I’m certain that this effects all phones, regardless of brand but I guess if you own the new Nokia Lumia 900, you can drop it as many times as you want.

Microsoft and Nokia are taking CES 2012 and America by storm – specifically with the Nokia Lumia 900. Nokia’s new handset is set to sell (AT&T) the 900 in the states, sporting Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. Possibly Nokia’s best handset in years, the 900 is going to be one of the best LTE devices on AT&T and their emerging LTE market. Here are the specs:

Nokia World has come and gone and while some tech writers were underwhelmed by the Lumia 710 & 800 – Nokia’s Kinetic Device was widely under reported. Essentially, the tech is a gorgeous screen that can be twisted across its horizontal axis, as well as its vertical axis. The applications here are endless, especially for situations calling for high tech equipment that are durable and which can withstand torquing - such as a smartphone in my jean pocket. While we don’t have release dates or much information regarding the mythical Kinetic Device - it does remind us of another device we covered earlier this year – check it out.

We were all waiting to see what NokiSoft would do and it looks like their first collaboration into the smartphone space are two beautiful, somewhat low priced – unique looking handsets. The Lumia 710 and its more sophisticated older brother, the Lumia 800 seem like rushed pieces of hardware from Nokia but I believe the goal was to release a viable smartphone in 2011 (for presence) and really enter the markt in the first half of 2012. Specs: 3.7″ 480×800 TFT display – 1.4Ghz Single Core Snapdragon+512MB RAM – 5 MegaPixels Camera – 16Gb Storage – Weight 126g – Price: €270 Full Specs

Those looking for a better camera and the all familiar N9 design, should consider the Lumia 800 and while looking the same externally, they are somewhat different on the inside. Still, I don’t blame Nokia for keeping with the N9′s unique design – it was one of the best things to come out of Nokia in the last years, except for the OS it was running. So, what are the main differences between the Lumia and the N9? The Lumia 800 has a single core 1.4 Ghz Snapdragon processor instead of a single core 1Ghz – 512MB of Ram instead of 1GB – 16GB Storage instead of 64GB. Additionally, the Lumia 800 comes with a 3.7″ TFT Display – 8 MegaPixel Camera – weight 142g – Price: €420 – Full Specs Interestingly, no front facing camera on either the Lumia 710 nor the 800 but still a good showing.

Less than a week after Nokia’s first round of patent complaints against Apple were turned down by the U.S. International Trade Commission, Nokia has fired back with a second round of complaints, this time essentially targeting all of Apple’s products. From iPhones, Ipads, Ipods all the way to actual Macs – Nokia is taking aim at everything and all!

Specifics for the second round are as follows: Nokia is stating that Apple has infringed on Bluetooth, hand set voice quality, geo positioning, syncing of data and of course multitasking patents – of which have come from countless years of R&D – specifically $43 Billion worth! Oh Nokia, if that 43 billion number is right, I feel really bad for you. You should have spend more cash on design and marketing – you wouldn’t be in the situation you’re in now – Microsoft’s play toy.

So, how does this end? Like most patent lawsuits and complaints - either nothing will happen, there will be some kind of out of court settlement or licensing agrement but you can bet that Apple will buy Nokia before it gives in to licensing.

Now that the honeymoon is over and the dust has settled around Nokisoft’s Mobile World Congress love affair, some interesting information is coming to light, especially from Bloomberg. I do have to warn you, the details are coming from: “two people with knowledge of the terms….” That aside, here are the details: Microsoft will pay Nokia $1 Billion greenbacks so that Nokia’s phone hardware have WM7 as their OS but then, Nokia will pay Microsoft a licensing fee for each handset “used”. So why the give and take? Well, essentially Microsoft wanted Android off Nokia hardware and the cash upfront deal was a sure-fire way of ensuring that Google got bounced and that, once the agreement is over, Microsoft recoups some of that cash pile back. I still believe that Nokia will get eaten up by Microsoft within the next 3 years – but here’s to this dysfunctional relationship…..I don’t want to see any police cars at the trailer park!

This week’s Hp event over-shadowed, if only for a minute, an even larger story: The Strategic Alliance of Nokia & Microsoft. The full scoop of their union is unclear but what we do know is that Nokia has adopted Windows Phone 7 OS, while Nokia will most likely take over hardware builds for future “NokiSoft” phones.

As for Nokia’s OS ecosystem, well…..Symbian is no more. It has gone the way of the DoDo and Palm. Meego’s future is still unclear and what makes it even more complex is that it was birthed by multiple partners, including Intel. That said, maybe the combined forces of Nokia+Micosoft+Intel (NokSoftTel) can do battle against Apple and Android. Let the holy war begin!

The Future: Nokia also stated that 2011 and 2012 will be transition years for the company, which will include cuts in R&D, Jobs and waste. There was even some chatter about moving HQ to Silicon Valley but that is still in rumor form. What we are seeing in the union of Hp/Palm and now Nokia/Microsoft is the bridging of traditional (bellwethers) companies in order for them to enter the mobile space (future). You see the massive mistakes theses multi-billion dollar companies made in not projecting for the future, for not seeing the signs/trends and now, they are essentially buying themselves back in. NEXT!!

Side Note: Google’s Respond To The Above news, In Tweet Form: “Two turkeys don’t make an eagle.”

There is a pertinent story about a man who was working on an oil platform in the North Sea. He woke up one night from a loud explosion, which suddenly set his entire oil platform on fire. In mere moments, he was surrounded by flames. Through the smoke and heat, he barely made his way out of the chaos to the platform’s edge. When he looked down over the edge, all he could see were the dark, cold, foreboding Atlantic waters.

As the fire approached him, the man had mere seconds to react. He could stand on the platform, and inevitably be consumed by the burning flames. Or, he could plunge 30 meters in to the freezing waters. The man was standing upon a “burning platform,” and he needed to make a choice.

He decided to jump. It was unexpected. In ordinary circumstances, the man would never consider plunging into icy waters. But these were not ordinary times – his platform was on fire. The man survived the fall and the waters. After he was rescued, he noted that a “burning platform” caused a radical change in his behaviour.

We too, are standing on a “burning platform,” and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour….”

Those powerful words are from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and they came to light in a leaked memo he wrote to employees. Engadget received the memo from one of their sources and are trying to check its authenticity as I write this. If this is true, there is little doubt as to Nokia’s position and how they feel about their future in the smart phone realm.

Elop goes on to explain how Nokia found itself in the situation that it’s in now and the way their competitors have out played them in every step. He doesn’t hold back and there are no bright spots or positives – just a chilling last paragraph of uncertainty….with a glimpse of hope:

“The burning platform, upon which the man found himself, caused the man to shift his behaviour, and take a bold and brave step into an uncertain future. He was able to tell his story. Now, we have a great opportunity to do the same.”